KEI has posted a helpful summary of the key developments at the most recent round of negotiations on the Trans Pacific Partnership.
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Secrecy the Standard as Canada Enters Trans Pacific Partnership Talks
Despite growing opposition in Canada, the Canadian government has begun formal participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations, aimed at establishing one of the world’s most ambitious trade agreements. As nearly a dozen countries – including the United States, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Mexico and Vietnam – gathered in New Zealand last week for the 14th round of talks, skeptics here have already expressed doubts about the benefits of the proposed deal.
Canada has free-trade agreements with the United States, Mexico, Chile and Peru, leaving just six countries – currently representing less than 1 per cent of Canadian exports – as the net gain. Moreover, the price of entry may be high, since leaked documents suggest the deal might require a major overhaul of Canadian agriculture, investment, intellectual property and culture protection rules.
While the substance of the TPP is cause for concern, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) argues the more immediate issue is the lack of transparency associated with both the negotiations and Canada’s participation in them. The talks remain shrouded in secrecy, with a draft text that is confidential; public interest groups are largely banned from the venue where the negotiations are being held.
The File Sharing Lawsuits Begin: Thousands Targeted at TekSavvy
Given recent reports that a Montreal-based company has captured data on one million Canadians who it says have engaged in unauthorized file sharing, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before widespread file sharing lawsuits came to Canada. It now appears that those lawsuits are one step closer as TekSavvy, a leading independent ISP, has announced that it has received a motion seeking the names and contact information of thousands of customers (legal documents here). To TekSavvy’s credit, the company insists that it will not provide subscriber information without a court order and it has sent notices to affected customers.
The notifications have generated considerable online discussion with some recipients indicating that they have been wrongly targeted. Others wonder what comes next. As I suggested in my posts on this issue, the next steps likely include the following:
File Sharing Lawsuits Could Lead to Clogged Courts as Canadians Rely on New Liability Caps
The Canadian Internet community has been buzzing for the past week over reports that a Montreal-based company has captured data on one million Canadians who it says have engaged in unauthorized file sharing. While that represents a relatively small percentage of Internet users in Canada, the possibility of hundreds of thousands of lawsuits over alleged copyright infringement would be unprecedented and raise a host of legal and policy issues.
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes the prospect of mass lawsuits will be of particular interest to the federal government, which just completed a major round of copyright reforms. The new copyright bill established a cap on damages that was explicitly designed to dissuade would-be litigants from targeting individuals. In fact, during hearings into the copyright reform bill, Members of Parliament were given assurances that the industry had no desire to launch file sharing lawsuits.
DFAIT Establishes Secret Insider Trans Pacific Partnership Consulting Group
Canada begins formal participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations next week in Auckland, New Zealand. The TPP remains shrouded in secrecy (Peter Clark has published a detailed must-read guide that provides a complete assessment of the talks to date based on leaks and media reports), but it appears that some individuals and organizations may have privileged access to the text or other negotiation information. The Department of Foreign Affairs is creating a secret insider “Consulting Group” that will be granted access to secret and confidential information regarding the negotiations. A source this week provided a copy of the non-disclosure agreement that DFAIT is requiring members of the consulting group to sign, a copy of which is posted below.
The creation of an insider group is reminiscent of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Negotiations, where DFAIT spent months trying to pull together an ACTA insider group, only to drop the plan after the publication of the initial composition of the group (I obtained the information via an Access to Information request).
A TPP insider group raises a host of concerns including questions about who has privileged access, whether civil society groups will also have access and be invited to join, and the extent of behind-the-scenes consultations with industry groups. While DFAIT may seek to justify the creation of an insider group based on the need for expert advice, the lack of transparency with the TPP is now exacerbated by a two-tier approach to TPP information with a select, secret group gaining insider access to information. DFAIT should immediately disclose who has been invited to join the insider group, why it is has established a two-tier approach, and how it intends to ensure that all Canadians have access to the latest TPP developments.
The NDA is posted below: that will be granted access to secret and confidential information regarding the negotiations. A source this week provided a copy of the non-disclosure agreement that DFAIT is requiring members of the consulting group to sign, a copy of which is posted below.
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